CHR versus "Churban", room for a format change?

[Radio_Realist]

In another thread, the issue of whether 92.9 and/or 93.7 could be successful with switch to CHR came up. Conventional wisdom is that WKST owns the CHR market in town. But even though the DJ's on Kiss don't sound very "urban", the playlist on Kiss (as revealed on yes.com) is very heavily weighted towards artists that are commonly referred to as "urban".

Could a station that's currently struggling with "lite" rock semi-oldies or a station that plays a mix of new, alternative and classic rock succeed with a switch to contemporary hits of the non-urban variety? I'm referring to a mix of the songs that get strong rotation on TV networks like VH-1 that never seem to get much locak radio airplay, along with songs from such sources as Paul McCartney's newest Grammy nominated album that also gets little to no local airplay, and pop sounding country crossovers like much of Shania Twain's songs.

Is there a market segment in Pittsburgh that would choose to tune in a station that specialized in contemporary pop music, but without hip-hop or rap content?

 

[Part-timer]

> In another thread, the issue of whether 92.9 and/or 93.7
> could be successful with switch to CHR came up. Conventional
> wisdom is that WKST owns the CHR market in town. But even
> though the DJ's on Kiss don't sound very "urban", the
> playlist on Kiss (as revealed on yes.com) is very heavily
> weighted towards artists that are commonly referred to as
> "urban".
>
> Could a station that's currently struggling with "lite" rock
> semi-oldies or a station that plays a mix of new,
> alternative and classic rock succeed with a switch to
> contemporary hits of the non-urban variety? I'm referring to
> a mix of the songs that get strong rotation on TV networks
> like VH-1 that never seem to get much locak radio airplay,
> along with songs from such sources as Paul McCartney's
> newest Grammy nominated album that also gets little to no
> local airplay, and pop sounding country crossovers like much
> of Shania Twain's songs.
>
> Is there a market segment in Pittsburgh that would choose to
> tune in a station that specialized in contemporary pop
> music, but without hip-hop or rap content?
>

Star actually covers that position to some extent.

But actually, if you listen to CHRs in a lot of other markets, there's more of a mix of rock and pop with the R&B flava. And the B was trying to occupy that position before they were forced to blow it up for Howard.
<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[Radio_Realist]

> Star actually covers that position to some extent.

I guess the operative phrase is "to some extent". Might a mix with more new and less "vintage" music be different enough to have its own identity?

> But actually, if you listen to CHRs in a lot of other
> markets, there's more of a mix of rock and pop with the R&B
> flava. And the B was trying to occupy that position before
> they were forced to blow it up for Howard.

I never get the opportunity to spend much time in other markets.

What little I know of what B-94 attempted was the DJ's and positioning that surrounded the music was definitely aimed more towards high schoolers than even 20-somethings. I recall several posters in here speculating that the main reason that B-94 eventually failed was that it had too good of a reputation as being THE teenagers' station, and was therefore something one outgrew when one got old enough to drink legally. I got the impression that the standard rite of passage for a Pittsburgher turning into an adult consisted of getting falling down drunk in a Southside pub crawl, then cutting off one's mullet, and then resetting one's car radio button from B-94 to WDVE. Once one did that, one could say "Today I am a man".

Could a station that combines the music selection of the old B-94 with a slightly more adult (as in 20-something rather than teenager) presentation work in THIS market?

 

[jkf]

> > Star actually covers that position to some extent.
>
> I guess the operative phrase is "to some extent". Might a
> mix with more new and less "vintage" music be different
> enough to have its own identity?
>
> > But actually, if you listen to CHRs in a lot of other
> > markets, there's more of a mix of rock and pop with the
> R&B
> > flava. And the B was trying to occupy that position before
>
> > they were forced to blow it up for Howard.
>
> I never get the opportunity to spend much time in other
> markets.
>
> What little I know of what B-94 attempted was the DJ's and
> positioning that surrounded the music was definitely aimed
> more towards high schoolers than even 20-somethings. I
> recall several posters in here speculating that the main
> reason that B-94 eventually failed was that it had too good
> of a reputation as being THE teenagers' station, and was
> therefore something one outgrew when one got old enough to
> drink legally. I got the impression that the standard rite
> of passage for a Pittsburgher turning into an adult
> consisted of getting falling down drunk in a Southside pub
> crawl, then cutting off one's mullet, and then resetting
> one's car radio button from B-94 to WDVE. Once one did that,
> one could say "Today I am a man".
>
> Could a station that combines the music selection of the old
> B-94 with a slightly more adult (as in 20-something rather
> than teenager) presentation work in THIS market?
>


Yes. Star SHOULD be this station but they are more of the JACK format than a hot a/c anymore. Why they refuse to play more currents every hour is beyond me, especially now with BOB here.

 

[radiogeek07]

I could see a station like Z93 in Dayton doing well here. Conservative top 40 outlet. Not quite Star, but not quite Kiss either. That's what I would look for in a new CHR around Pittsburgh.

 

[toddjammin]

> I could see a station like Z93 in Dayton doing well here.
> Conservative top 40 outlet. Not quite Star, but not quite
> Kiss either. That's what I would look for in a new CHR
> around Pittsburgh.
>
Maybe they will call it Z 93 instead of B 93 since the Z is in the call letters. Im just speculating, so we we have to wait and see what happens on midnight 12/26 when the Christmas music is over!!

 

[Part-timer]

> > I could see a station like Z93 in Dayton doing well here.
>
> > Conservative top 40 outlet. Not quite Star, but not quite
>
> > Kiss either. That's what I would look for in a new CHR
> > around Pittsburgh.
> >
> Maybe they will call it Z 93 instead of B 93 since the Z is
> in the call letters. Im just speculating, so we we have to
> wait and see what happens on midnight 12/26 when the
> Christmas music is over!!
>

Down much lower on the page there's post that indicates they're going to call it B92.9. And that's because Saul is eternally hung up on the idea that if he calls it B93, and someone just writes down 93, K-Rock will get half the credit.

<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[toddjammin]

> > > I could see a station like Z93 in Dayton doing well
> here.
> >
> > > Conservative top 40 outlet. Not quite Star, but not
> quite
> >
> > > Kiss either. That's what I would look for in a new CHR
> > > around Pittsburgh.
> > >
> > Maybe they will call it Z 93 instead of B 93 since the Z
> is
> > in the call letters. Im just speculating, so we we have
> to
> > wait and see what happens on midnight 12/26 when the
> > Christmas music is over!!
> >
>
> Down much lower on the page there's post that indicates
> they're going to call it B92.9. And that's because Saul is
> eternally hung up on the idea that if he calls it B93, and
> someone just writes down 93, K-Rock will get half the
> credit.
>
If this happens, I'm sure WSHH 99.7 will be in their glory!!

 

[Radio_Realist]

> Down much lower on the page there's post that indicates
> they're going to call it B92.9. And that's because Saul is
> eternally hung up on the idea that if he calls it B93, and
> someone just writes down 93, K-Rock will get half the
> credit.

It could also be because rounding frequencies to the nearest whole number for a nickname is so last century. It made sense when people tuned in using analog tuners. Now that almost every tuner has a digital LCD display, using the exact number makes more sense.

What's more, with the internet so common, and dot-this and dot-that names for businesses, calling a radio station "Bee Ninety-Two DOT Nine" sounds more 21st century than B93. If they call the new station "Bee Ninety-Two POINT Nine", then they're missing out on a good opportunity to create an even fresher image. The latter sounds a more 1990's than 2000's.

 

[Tanner_Boyle]

> If this happens, I'm sure WSHH 99.7 will be in their glory!!
That's why it won't happen; you've got two strong-willed owners here, neither of whom wants to give up their ground to the other, and neither station will change as long as the other is Lite/Soft AC.

 

[Part-timer]

> > Down much lower on the page there's post that indicates
> > they're going to call it B92.9. And that's because Saul is
>
> > eternally hung up on the idea that if he calls it B93, and
>
> > someone just writes down 93, K-Rock will get half the
> > credit.
>
> It could also be because rounding frequencies to the nearest
> whole number for a nickname is so last century. It made
> sense when people tuned in using analog tuners. Now that
> almost every tuner has a digital LCD display, using the
> exact number makes more sense.
>

No, trust me, Saul sued Arbitron (and lost) over this issue a few years ago.

He dragged DVE into the mix, to the point where Gene romano dragged everyone in the building into the production studio one day and recorded them saying "102", which they would then bury in the middle of a stopset, so that by saying "102" once an hour they got credit when people wrote down just 102.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[Radio_Realist]

> > > Down much lower on the page there's post that indicates
> > > they're going to call it B92.9. And that's because Saul
> is
> >
> > > eternally hung up on the idea that if he calls it B93,
> and
> >
> > > someone just writes down 93, K-Rock will get half the
> > > credit.
> >
> > It could also be because rounding frequencies to the
> nearest
> > whole number for a nickname is so last century. It made
> > sense when people tuned in using analog tuners. Now that
> > almost every tuner has a digital LCD display, using the
> > exact number makes more sense.
> >
>
> No, trust me, Saul sued Arbitron (and lost) over this issue
> a few years ago.
>
> He dragged DVE into the mix, to the point where Gene romano
> dragged everyone in the building into the production studio
> one day and recorded them saying "102", which they would
> then bury in the middle of a stopset, so that by saying
> "102" once an hour they got credit when people wrote down
> just 102.

Well, you just proved to me (again) that Saul isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I am still convinced that the reasons I listed are darn good ones for not using a rounded frequency number as a nickname in 2006. But I also accept that Saul isn't doing what he's doing because it's a good idea, he's doing it for the reasons you stated.

 

[djkst35]

> > Is there a market segment in Pittsburgh that would choose
> to
> > tune in a station that specialized in contemporary pop
> > music, but without hip-hop or rap content?
> >
>

This is exactly what I'm looking for in Pittsburgh radio. I don't so much mind R&B/Hop-Hop and Rap music. But I hate the fact that 99% of all the recurrents played on KISS fall under this category.


> Star actually covers that position to some extent.
>

To a very small extent. I grew tired of Star playist only 2-3 months after B-94 blew up. It's the same OLD songs over and over again. They don't play very many new songs. What few "contemporary pop" songs they play are heavily overplayed for months:

http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/rronline/Stations.asp?c_let=WZPT-FM



> But actually, if you listen to CHRs in a lot of other
> markets, there's more of a mix of rock and pop with the R&B
> flava. And the B was trying to occupy that position before
> they were forced to blow it up for Howard.
>

I disagree to an extent. It seemed that B-94 was trying too much to be like KISS. This was their downfall. Whatever new CHR comes to town (either 92.9 or 93.7) needs a new identity different from KISS.